Sunday, January 10, 2010

The Faith of Abraham

"Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son." Genesis 22:10

How do I reconcile the love, justice, and morality of God with his command for Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac? Those of us reading the story understand that the command is merely a test and God has no intention of Abraham ever going through with it. However, Abraham did not have the luxury of that perspective. He had waited 100 years to have the son God promised him in his youth, and then after the miracle of Isaac's birth, God commands him to kill that same son! It might be easy for us to read this story and miss the profound statement and act of faith Abraham commits. It is easy for us to think that Abraham merely reasoned in his mind that God was only testing him. Or maybe Abraham was willing to go through the motions of obeying him but never had any real intentions of sacrificing Isaac. Unfortunately, I think the story is far more complicated and profound. Abraham raises the knife! I don't know any man in his right mind who would do so obediently what Abraham did. And that's the point. Abraham had a faith in the goodness and sovereignty of God that is unmatched in my life. He knew the Lord would provide the offering and he trusted that God would fulfill his promise despite the obvious absurdity of Isaac's sacrifice. How little faith we have in God's goodness. It is easy to trust God's promise when it fits into our lives, when it rationally follows from one thing or another. But when God's command seems absurd, are we willing to follow him anyways?Abraham was a man who walked with God and trusted him and knew the only thing more absurd than sacrificing his heir was to not listen to the commandments of God.

Lord Jesus give us a faith that is totally confident in your goodness, sovereignty, and power. Give us humility and perspective to trust in you, even when it seems absurd!